


Setting the Board

by casual_distance



Series: 30 Day Cheesy Tropes Challenge [6]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Mark of Cain, Casually canon divergent, Charlie Bradbury & Dean Winchester Friendship, Charlie Ships It, Gen, M/M, Men of Letters Bunker, No specific spoilers but episode events are alluded to, Post-Episode: s10e20 Angel Heart, Season/Series 10
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-16
Updated: 2015-05-16
Packaged: 2018-03-30 20:05:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3949939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/casual_distance/pseuds/casual_distance
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cas has never played spin the bottle.  For that matter, neither has Dean.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Reading the Rules

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place in a vague, AU-ish season 10 in which the MoC is non-existent/not that bad/whatever (reader’s choice) and Cas actually spends time with Dean and Sam at the bunker. 
> 
> I wrote this before Angel Heart aired, but it actually works better as happening after Angel Heart.

Dean walks into the kitchen to find Cas leaning up against the counter, squinting at his phone and frowning. He stops and stares even though he doesn’t mean to. He watches as Cas starts to type a response, Dean guesses, to someone’s text. Cas stops, squints at his phone some more, types a bit, then sighs and looks up at Dean.

Dean jerks into movement, raising his eyebrows at Cas’s befuddled face. “Somethin’ wrong?” he asks, pulling open the refrigerator door.

“Claire has been texting me,” he says, looking down at the phone, his frown deepening. 

Dean pulls out a beer and uses the counter to knock the top off. “She get settled in okay?”

Cas nods. “She’s made some friends-” Cas hesitates, then adds, “They’re her age; they seem to be of much higher caliber than her previous friends.”

Dean takes a drink and asks, “So what’s with the face?”

Cas frowns at him. “She’s been telling me about this party she went to. Said they played-” He squints at his phone and uses his thumb to scroll back in the conversation. “-a game called spin the bottle. I’m not familiar with it, and she has evaded answering my questions.”

Dean laughs, setting his beer down and swiping his hand across his mouth. “I thought you got all that crap from Metatron.”

Cas rolls his eyes. “He gave me his own knowledge. Childhood games apparently were not amongst such things.”

“Clearly.” Dean glances over at Cas to see him looking at Dean with a pout. He chuckles in amusement. “Didn’t realize they still played it, but usually it’s a group of teenagers who take an empty bottle and spin it to see who they kiss.” Dean wiggles his beer bottle at Cas.

“What is the purpose of this game?” Cas squints at him now.

Dean shrugs. “They’re horny; it’s an excuse to make out with each other.”

“If they wanted to make out, why did they just not ask?”

Dean snorts. “It’s not that easy when you’re young, Cas. Plus sometimes you don’t want anyone in particular.”

“I’m not sure I approve of Claire playing such games.”

Dean moves to lean against the counter next to Cas and bumps his elbow against Cas’s arm. “She’s a kid, Cas. It’s good for her to be doing kid things.”

Cas sighs and shoves his phone into the pocket of his jacket. “Did you ever play?”

Dean considers, then finally answers, “No, not really. Never much had time to make friends enough to be invited to a party where they’d play it.”

“And I, of course, never had a childhood.”

Dean looks over at Cas, who is staring down at the floor. “Are you wanting to play spin the bottle, Cas?” Dean asks, cocking an eyebrow at him.

Cas looks up at Dean and holds his gaze for a moment before shrugging one shoulder. “You said it was a good excuse to make out with someone.”

Dean’s eyebrows shoot up. “You wantin’ to make out with someone?”

Cas licks his lips and Dean can’t help looking down to follow the movement of his tongue. When Cas doesn’t answer, Dean looks up to find Cas staring at him. Dean swallows and looks away. He takes a deep breath and turns to face Cas.

“Hey, Cas?”

Cas mimics him and turns to stand face-to-face with him. They stand inches apart. “Yes, Dean?”

“You wanna play spin the bottle?”


	2. Determining the Winner

Charlie finds Dean sprawled out on the couch, feet propped up on the coffee table, watching television. She drops a flash drive onto his stomach and laughs when he jerks, causing it to slide off. He scrambles to catch it before it gets lost in the couch netherworld and manages to snatch it up before it slides between the cushions next to his ass. He holds it up to look at it before sending her a questioning look.

“Those are the files you guys were asking about. What kind of case is this anyway?”

Dean shrugs a shoulder and tosses the drive onto the coffee table. “Dunno. Something Sam’s working on to get the bunker archives in order, I think.” He grabs his beer and settles back onto the couch before pointing at the TV with it. “You wanna watch? I’m marathoning.”

Charlie glances at the television screen in time to see Loki take down Fury’s helicopter with the Tesseract.

“Hell yeah!” Charlie exclaims and collapses into an armchair. She slings her feet over the arm and settles in to watch. When Natasha takes out the three Russians, she gives a longing sigh. “God, she’s hot.”

Dean hums in agreement, but it sounds more placating than genuine agreement. Charlie glances over her shoulder at him. Dean’s eyes are focused on the beer he has braced against his stomach. He rubs his thumb against the neck of the bottle and smiles. It's small, just a turn-up of the corner of his mouth, but it’s almost what she would call sappy.

"Dean?"

Dean looks up at the sound of his name, expression evening out as he raises an eyebrow in question.

“Everything okay?”

Dean clears his throat, cheeks going pink, and takes a drink from his beer. He grimaces and leans forward to set it down on the coffee table. “‘Course.” He licks his lips and focuses on the television with feigned interest.

Charlie narrows her eyes at him for a moment before turning her attention back to the movie. Sometime later, when Tony's confronting Loki in Stark Tower, Dean’s phone rings. Charlie glances over at him to watch him dig it out of his pocket. His face lights up when he glances at the screen, causing Charlie to double take.

Dean sits up on the couch. He clears his throat. He glances at her, and when his cheeks go pink again, Charlie kindly looks away. She fakes interest in the fight now taking place on-screen but listens carefully. Dean clears his throat again and finally answers the call.

“Hey, Cas,” he says. His voice is soft and shy, and Charlie’s head all but whips around. Dean notices, the red in his face darkening. He pushes off the couch and leaves the room, but not before she hears him say, “Was waiting for you to call, man. It’s been a while,” in that same shy tone.

Charlie squeals silently at the TV screen, kicking her feet and biting her knuckles. When Sam shows up a few minutes later and asks what she’s grinning at, Charlie just answers, “Nothing.”


End file.
